It took me a few weeks of licking my wounds and feeling sorry for myself to get over the vampire’s rejection. For the first week, all I could think about was the vampire bite. He had been completely correct, and he shouldn’t have bitten me. It was addicting, but if he hadn’t bitten me, I don’t think I could have spent the whole night kissing those cold lips. It was just too creepy.

My ex texted me a few times like he hadn’t just gotten engaged. I couldn’t tell if he thought I was too dumb to find out he had put a ring on someone else or if he just thought I wouldn’t care. I did care. I cared rather a lot. Not only was I hurt he hadn’t ever asked me to marry him, I was also not in the mood to get with someone else's man.

This time, I went looking for some fun on Cinder. I didn’t bother to change my profile pic. It seemed like a good sign that I only got one unsolicited dick pic. It was of an orc penis, and I wasn’t even sure what part of the anatomy I was looking at until it dawned on me that the only part of the male anatomy men ever sent women unsolicited was pictures of their dicks. Being a good friend, I promptly forwarded it to my friend Laila. She and I spent the entire next shift at the front desk messaging it to each other. She would be waiting on a customer and in the middle of asking them how long they were staying, I would send her the picture so a giant green barbed orc penis would pop up unexpectedly in the corner of her screen. She would send it back to me when I was in the middle of explaining our breakfast options.

When I wasn’t at work or out with my friends, I found myself on Cinder, swiping through men in the area. It was late one night when I first found the picture of a good looking wolf with the username of Dinosaursandnachos. The name alone was enough for me to give him a second glance.

He was cute. Small with blue eyes and handlebar mustache waxed in a perfect curl. He gelled his hair into a pompadour, with sides shaved into a neat fade. He looked retro, and the style suited him. He didn’t look like he was wearing a costume. Rather it made him look like he was from another era. I didn’t know much about wolves. Even after I googled them, I still felt like I didn’t know very much. The internet said they were pack oriented and extremely strong. There didn’t seem to be any danger in hanging out with them. They were supposed to have good control and rarely hurt humans.

Not knowing what else to say I sent him off a simple message after fortifying myself with a glass of wine

Hi! I love your look. Would you like to get a drink?

He didn’t reply right away, and I started to go mad waiting. Just when I had finally given up on hearing back from him, he messaged me to say he would love to meet that weekend and his name was Peter. Peter, the wolf, which made me laugh. I wondered if he saw the humor in it. He asked me to meet him at a downtown bar called the Pig Lady.

It was a hipster bar, so I wore a vaguely retro looking polka dot dress with a full skirt and red shoes. I attempted to tease my hair. It was not a success. In the end, I must have managed to look okay because I got a few appreciative looks when I walked into the bar and took my coat off. When Peter showed up, I was glad I had dressed up as he looked quite dapper.

His pants were fitted, but not tight. He wore them rolled up at the cuff, so just the toe of scuffed leather boots were sticking out. He was wearing a red plaid cloth jacket, and his hands were in his pockets.

I turned to look at him, and he said with a smile, “Hey, I’m Peter, the wolf.”

I grinned back. “Hi! I’m Cora. Puny Human. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Ma’am, are you trying to get me drunk?” he asked, and his voice was deep with a hint of laughter.

“Oh, no! You’ve discovered my dastardly plan. I am undone,” I said, feigning despair.

“I don’t want to be the one to show up a lady, so I guess I better start drinking.” He sat down next to me and ordered some type of whiskey drink in a small stubby glass.

“Do you like those?” I asked, peering at the brown liquid.

“Puts hair on your chest,” he said with a shrug.

“I wouldn’t think chest hair would be a problem for you.”

He smiled and winked. On someone else, the whole look would have seemed like they were trying too hard, but on him, it looked natural. Of course, given that werewolves were incredibly long-lived, it was entirely possible this wasn’t his first time with a handlebar mustache, and perhaps it was more natural to him than other looks would have been.

I stirred my drink, something with ginger and rum, and looked at him.

Peter laughed and said, “Hey now, you don’t need to watch me. I don’t bite. Much.”

He was joking, but my brain instantly started thinking about the vampire bite and feeling nervous. I wanted to be cool and clever. Instead, I felt out of place, like an imposter pretending to be a grownup by wearing my mother's clothes. I did what I always do whenever I get nervous. I chugged down my drink and ordered us a round of shots.

Peter didn’t seem to mind, and we got roaring drunk in short order. At least I did. Peter appeared to be keeping it together just fine, although his hair was a little flatter, and he had his hand on my thigh. I was listing hard to the side, leaning up against Peter. His arm was rock solid against my body. He was warm, oh, so warm. I wanted to bask in his heat like a cat. I was feeling fabulously sexy. In reality, I was probably just drunk, but the effect was the same. I can only assume that was the reason I leaned over and whispered, “Wanna get out of here?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said and slid his arm around me.

After some debate, he paid the whole tab, and I left the tip. We headed out to the street. The cold air blasted my face and for a moment I sobered up. Was this safe? He seemed like a nice guy, but I was a little scared at the idea of going back to the apartment of a man I had just met. I also wasn’t sure I wanted him to know where I lived.

He hailed a cab and gave the driver his address. The address was for an older, well off neighborhood in the south of the city. Not a place I knew well, but not a dangerous area. If anything, it was out of my budget and probably safer than where I lived.

I waited while he paid the cab driver, and we walked to the door at the side of a building. From there we walked down into a little side yard. The brick building looked black in the moonlight. As soon as he opened the door, there was a sound of riotous barking.